Artificial intelligence will change Healthcare
Doctors are stretched thin, especially in underserved areas, to respond to the growing needs of the population. Meanwhile, training physicians and health workers is historically an arduous process that requires years of education and experience. Fortunately, artificial intelligence can help the healthcare sector to overcome present and future challenges.
One of the most basic yet efficient use cases of artificial intelligence is to optimize the clinical process. Traditionally, when patients feel ill, they go to the doctor, who checks their vital signs, asks questions, and gives a prescription. Now, AI assistants can cover a large part of clinical and outpatient services, freeing up doctors’ time to attend to more critical cases.
The treatment and prevention of rare and dangerous diseases often depends on detecting the symptoms at the right time. In many cases, early diagnosis can result in complete cure. Conversely, a late or wrong diagnosis can have damaging or potentially fatal results. Human skills and experience are limited and hard-to-earn when it comes to examining images and samples and making reliable decisions.
AI algorithms can quickly ingest millions of samples in short order and glean useful patterns. And unlike humans, they don’t lose their edge when they grow old. Several institutions and firms are investing on this scheme in developing healthcare solutions.
Researchers at Stanford University have created an AI algorithm that can identify skin cancer. They trained their deep learning algorithm with 130,000 images of moles, rashes, and lesions. According to results its efficiency in diagnosing skin cancer rivals that of professional doctors.
DeepMind, a Google-owned AI company, is using machine learning to fight blindness in cooperation with NHS. Researchers at the firm are training a deep learning algorithm with a million anonymous eye scans. Other firms are using artificial intelligence to take small yet crucial steps in the treatment of illnesses.
Another open-ended question is how artificial intelligence will affect jobs in the healthcare sector. At the current stage, it’s a given that caring for humans is the job of humans. However, while AI will no doubt continue to revolutionize medicine for years to come, physicians often find themselves perplexed by how to incorporate the technology into their regular practice. Only once AI is accepted, and fully integrated, into medicine will we see the full potential for the technology in terms of lending itself to more efficient and accurate diagnostics — from routine checkups to more specialized fields.